Keicha Rater
Mr. Hatke
Dispatch/Law
April 15, 2013
Helmet LawThere is not a federal law in the United States requiring wearing helmets. Each state can make up their own helmet law. There are three states in the United States that doesn’t have a helmet law, Illinois, Iowa, and New Hampshire. There are nineteen states that has a mandatory helmet law, which is where you are supposed to wear your helmet at all times. These nineteen states are Alabama, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington. There is nineteen states that require you to wear a helmet when you are eighteen and under. Those nineteen states are Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Delaware require you to wear a helmet if you are nineteen and under. There are seven states that require you to wear a helmet if you are twenty one and under. Those seven states are Arkansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Texas.

Twenty four states also have low-power cycles which include motor-driven cycles, mopeds, scooters and various other 2-wheeled cycles excluded from the motorcycle definition. These helmet laws don’t just apply for the driver they also apply to the passenger. Twenty-three states have motorcycle helmet laws that cover all low-power cycles. There are also 201 localities that have local ordinances.

In 1967, the federal government required the states to enact a helmet law. By the early 1970s almost all the states had a universal motorcycle helmet law. In 1968 Michigan was the first state to repeal the helmet law. Then in 1976 states finally got Congress to stop the Department of Transportation from fining states without helmet laws.

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Helmets are not the universal remedy many claim them to be. Training riders and educating the motoring public to share the road while being aware of motorcycles are among the most effective ways to prevent accidents, injuries and deaths. The evidence for mandatory helmet use is more often narrow-minded than fact. People who have never ridden claim to know more about the pros and cons of helmet use than those of us who have been riding for decades.
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...wearing a helmet. For this reason, many states have adopted the motorcycle helmetlaw. The law states that every passengers must wear a helmet at all times when riding on a motorcycle. This law has created a great deal of controversy. One side supports the law, believing that it protects motorcyclists from danger and saves the economy a great deal of money. The other side argues that thelaw is unconstitutional and it violates our right to freedom. However, statistics show overwhelming support in favor of the motorcycle helmetlaw. Although wearing helmets cannot prevent motorcycle crashes, they can greatly reduce the number of deaths caused by head injury as well as lowering taxes, insurance rates, and health care costs. Therefore, the helmetlaw should be put into effect in every state across the United States.
Helmets drastically reduce the tremendous number of deaths caused by head injuries as well as reducing the severity of any nonfatal injuries to the head. Statistics gathered by the Safety Nationwide Insurance Enterprises show that an unhelmeted rider is 40% more likely to suffer fatal head injuries, compared with a helmeted rider. Also, with the helmetlaw in effect, close to 100% of motorcyclists wear a helmet....

...Helmet or Death, You Choose
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...Motorcycle HelmetLaws 1
Running Head: Motorcycle HelmetLaws
Impact of Mandatory Motorcycle Helmet Use Laws
CariAnne Kestrel
July 15, 2012
Utica College
SOC 376-Z1 Criminological Research Methods
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Summer 2012
Motorcycle HelmetLaws 2
Over the past 30 years, many states have enacted mandatory helmetlaws for motorcycle drivers. There have been many states that have rescinded these laws for reasons that may not be known by those most interested – the motorcycle rider him/herself. Currently, less than half of all U.S. states require helmets for motorcycle operators.
One who is interested in this topic may wonder how those that are in positions to give the thumbs up or thumbs down regarding these laws make their decision one way or the other. Do they have facts, data and evidence to support their verdicts? Or, are they influenced by stories of horrific motorcycle fatalities recited to them by friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, church members, or acquaintances at the grocery store, garden center and/or the local pub? Could there be a possibility that they might pass a mandatory helmetlaw due to a knee-jerk reaction to a particularly heinous accident that recently occurred and been covered by...

...prevented had the rider been wearing a helmet. Helmets are the only method to reduce the head injuries during crashes which is the leading cause of death involving motorcycle accidents.
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...The 40 Year Debate; Are Mandatory Universal Motorcycle HelmetLaws Right or Wrong?
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The debate over whether or not to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle has been hot topic since the helmetlaw went into effect in California in 1992. It seems obvious that wearing a helmet would help protect you in a motorcycle accident. Many legislatures agree. In fact, nineteen states have a mandatory helmetlaw for all motorcycle riders. Twenty-seven states have a law for those under a set age, three of which require additional insurance for those of age who choose not to wear a helmet. That leaves only four states with absolutely no helmetlaws. Despite these facts, helmets are a superficial means of safety at realistic speeds. Yet because this is a public policy issue that is not just about health but also about freedom of behavior, the process of law making is complicated.
Who supports the helmetlaw? If you were to guess a motorcycle rider, you would probably be wrong. The majority of the helmetlaw supporters consist of manufacturers, government agencies, and insurance companies. Many states passed mandatory helmetlaws in order to receive federal funds for highway repair and improvements. Most important, is the fact that helmet manufacturing is a large and profitable industry....

... Michigan Motorcycle helmetlaw Hello, I am here today to talk to you about the Michigan Motorcycle HelmetLaw. -This law permits anyone that is 21 years of age or older that has at least 20,000 dollars in heath insurance and has passed a safety course in the past 2 years to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. I am also here to persuade you that this law doesn’t have a person’s safety as the top priority. Just recently I have witnessed a motorcycle crash happen right before my eyes. My stepmother was taking a turn at only 30 mph when she locked up her breaks and crashed over the handle bars. She has been in the hospital for a little over two weeks and it is a miracle that she is in the condition that she is in, recovering from a skull fracture and bruising on the brain, She has been riding for twelve years, no other vehicles were involved, and she was wearing a helmet, if she was not wearing her helmet, I know that we wouldn’t have her with us anymore. We were hoping she would be home for the forth of July, but the medical staff still haven’t given us a go home date as of today. Studies from the National Highway administration in 2008 showed that motorcyclists who do not use helmets are three times more likely to suffer a disturbing brain injury in a crash than those who are wearing...